Field of the Invention
The invention relates to exemplary embodiments of devices, methods and arrangements for the display of images, static or dynamic, underwater and for a method and system for controlling the lighting and display of same alone or in coordination with changes in the ambient underwater lighting.
Background of the Invention
Underwater lighting has advanced over the course of many years, improving in safety along with the quality of visual effects. From the original incandescent white lights used solely for illumination of pools in poor lighting conditions, leaps in technology have now moved to the most modern and technically advanced water shows of today. The desire for better lighting and improved or enhanced effects has driven the market to these improvements. Static lighting in and around the pool or bodies of water come in an increasingly dazzling array of colors and perfusions with various optics and heat management devices and methods to provide ever more vibrant and ambitious displays of color in water.
Examples of some accent or background lights include
# 6,472,990Delmar# 7,357,525Doyle# 7,410,268Koren et al.# 7,699,515Faber# 7,740,367Koren
Additionally, there exist devices that are exterior to a pool or body of water for exciting visual displays or to provide enhanced pool safety, these include:
# 4,196,461Geary# 4,887,197Effinger# 5,576,901Hanchett# 6,278,373Jaurigue et al.# 6,951,411Kumar et al.# 7,810,942Kunkel et al.# App. 2005/0146777Russell
Similarly, several devices have been suggested that incorporate lighting, culminated or otherwise, in bodies of water, some examples include:
# 5,934,796Quereau# 6,086,215Giattino, et al.# 7,482,764Morgan et al.# 7,717,582Longoria et al.# 7,744,237Potucek et al.App. # 2010/0019686Gutierrez, Jr.
However, to date, no commercially available application has been made of projection and illumination of graphics underwater or in a pool or body of water as a part of a display or as an illumination schema from under the water. Thus, there exists a need for a device and associated method of allowing for presentation of images and/or graphics from an underwater position to a point in an underwater environment. Such a device should meet the safety requirements for existing underwater lights, be compact, and provide pleasing images and/or graphics. Additionally, there exists a need for methods that allow for control of the graphics and ambient lighting such that they are synchronized to realize desired visual effects and adjustment of the projected images and/or graphics. The combination of graphics or imaging lighting and ambient or non-imaging lighting control and display should allow for strong contrasts in displays, providing heretofore unknown contrast and clarity in underwater projection.